A suspected New People’s Army guerrilla was killed in an encounter in Norzagaray, Bulacan on Friday.
The encounter occurred at past 2 p.m. in Barangay San Lorenzo, according to Brig. Gen. Ponce Rogelio Peñones Jr., Central Luzon police director.
Troopers from the Army’s 703rd Infantry Brigade led by 2/Lt. Michael Angelo Apostol were responding to reports about extortion activities in Sitio Balagbag when they encountered a group of armed men believed to be communist rebels.
The firefight lasted for 10 minutes before the armed men retreated, leaving behind their slain comrade.
Aside from the remains of the fatality, the soldiers recovered a rifle and a backpack containing documents at the scene of the encounter.
A pursuit operation was launched for the fleeing rebels.
Brig. Gen. Eugenio Julio Osias IV, chief of the 703IB, urged the rebels to surrender and avail themselves of the government’s reintegration program.